CHAKWAL: Government Postgraduate College Chakwal (GPGCC) received a letter from the deputy director colleges (DDC) suggesting that the college be named after a student from Kot Raja village of Chakwal who was killed in the attack in Peshawar.

DDC Professor Nasir Mehmood Awan sent a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, to the deputy secretary budget higher education department Punjab, director colleges Rawalpindi Division, district coordination officer Chakwal and the Principal of GPGCC on January 23.

In the letter, the DDC argues that since this college is the closest public sector college to Usama Bin Tariq’s hometown, it should be renamed ‘Govt. Usama Bin Tariq Shaheed Postgraduate College Chakwal’ to honour his sacrifice.

Upon receiving the letter, the GPGCC principal called a meeting of department heads. In the meeting, the proposal to rename the college was strongly opposed by the participants.

A senior faculty member, Professor Aziz Ahmed Minhas, said: “There is no doubt that the sacrifice and martyrdom of Usama Bin Tariq must be honoured but this is an inappropriate idea since Usama was a student of 9th class at the Army Public School Peshawar.

This is a postgraduate college and the student had no connection with this college.”

He said that a school should be built in his native village in his name or a new college should be built and renamed after him.

“If the college has to be named after someone, it should be Khan Sarfaraz Khan who donated a vast area of land for the college in 1949,” he said.

He added that the college administration had conveyed their reservations to director colleges and deputy director colleges.

DDC Professor Nasir Mehmood Awan told Dawn that he was directed by the secretary higher education department to select the nearest college to Usama’s hometown to be named after him.

“I suggested an under-construction college in Choa Saidan Shah and a high school near Usama’s village but the proposal was rejected as the college in Choa Saidan Shah is located in tehsil Choa Saidan while Usama’s village is located in tehsil Chakwal. Similarly, the high school has nothing to do with colleges department,” he said.

Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz, the grandson of Late Khan Sarfraz Khan who is also the district president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said that his grandfather did not donate land to have it named after him.

“My grandfather did his work quietly. Now it is up to the government where it wants to rename the college or not,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2015

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